Andrew McCarthy: Travel Journalist (and other celebrity second acts)

I received a fairly routine dispatch in my inbox a month or so ago — it may have been a press release — announcing that some guy named Andrew McCarthy won a national award for travel writing. I skimmed it and went back to work, but not before the following thought crossed my mind.

en.academic.ru

Turns out there are second acts.

“Too bad for him,” I said to myself. “He’s got a name just like the 1980s actor. Travel writer Andrew McCarthy must get sick of people making ‘Weekend at Bernie’s’ and ‘St. Elmo’s Fire’ jokes.”

While working various entertainment journalism jobs over the past 15 years, I’ve seen how hard it is for celebrities to reinvent themselves outside of Hollywood. It’s so easy to cling onto that fame, continuing to appear in straight-to-video dreck and/or showing up on autograph row at a fan convention to sign “Pretty in Pink” photo stills for $20 each. At the same time, I feel great admiration for stars who find another field they’re interested in, and excel at it. Andrew McCarthy doesn’t have to write reported pieces for Travel+Leisure. Which means he must love doing it.

Well, good news Andrew McCarthy. You’ve been honored twice this year. I’m bestowing upon you a 2010 Schoeffling award, named after actor Michael Schoeffling, who abandoned Hollywood in the early 1990s to make furniture in Pennsylvania. (Or maybe not. I’m obsessed with that story, and there’s something that doesn’t quite fit. Wouldn’t the Internet be filled with accounts from people who bought a coffee table from Jake from “Sixteen Candles”? For another day …)

My first ballot Schoeffling award winners are below. Yours in the comments.

Peter Weller (Syracuse University adjunct professor):

I was watching an otherwise scholarly show on the History Channel last year, with a bunch of wonky professor types talking about ancient Rome. It couldn’t have been more low-key. And then, without warning, Robocop showed up. Turns out that Weller received his master’s degree in Roman and Rennaissance art, and is currently a PhD candidate and adjunct professor at Syracuse University. This, coupled with the events covered in Mike’s recent Weller-themed post, makes the actor one of my all-time favorite people.

Fighting for justice and Leonardo da Vinci.

Jackie Earle Haley (regional television commercial director):

Read my interview with Jackie Earle Haley from a few years ago, when he made his improbable career comeback which led to an Oscar nomination — nearly 15 years after he flamed out in Hollywood as a child actor and worked briefly delivering pizzas and as a limo driver. While it’s not unusual for young actors to become directors (everyone from Ron Howard to Ricky Schroder has made that move), Haley did it outside Hollywood, building a nice little life making commercials and other local films in San Antonio, before getting rediscovered.

Pretty much everyone from “The Wonder Years”:

The cast of “The Wonder Years” did an excellent job of breaking the child actor stereotype. Josh Saviano (Paul) is now a lawyer with Morris Cohen in Manhattan; Danica McKellar (Winnie) graduated summa cum laude with a math degree from UCLA and has written two math-themed books aimed at middle schoolers; and Fred Savage has been a success behind the camera — among other things, he’s directed 18 episides of “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.”

Pretty much everyone from “The White Shadow”:

Same phenomenon as “The Wonder Years,” except these guys all stayed in Hollywood. No doubt influenced by series creator Bruce Paltrow, Thomas Carter (Hayward), Kevin Hooks (Thorpe) and Tim Van Patten (Salami) all became prolific Hollywood TV or film directors.

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David Lovering, magician:

Pixies drummer David Lovering has an electrical engineering background, and in the late 1990s and early 2000s reinvented himself as a science-themed magician called “The Scientific Phenomenalist.” He’s reportedly a resident of the prestigious Magic Castle in Hollywood, a member of “The Unholy Three” (along with Possom Dixon singer/bassist Rob Zabrecky) and when the Pixies aren’t reuniting he builds his own contraptions for his physics-themed act.

Milo Aukerman, biochemist:

The lead singer for the L.A. punk band The Descendents has always been a scholar. The 1982 album “Milo Goes to College” was inspired by Milo’s decision to spend less time with his music and pursue multiple science degrees. He eventually got a PhD in biochemistry, is helping raise two children and only performs with the band sporadically — maintaining his research that has something to do with plants and genetics.

PETER HARTLAUB is the pop culture critic at the San Francisco Chronicle and founder of this parenting blog, which admittedly sometimes has nothing to do with parenting. You can follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/peterhartlaub.